Help Please - WiFi extension.

gojoroan2007

Edit - Thank you everyone - today I bought the TP one as recommended - set up and working in under 5 minutes and works a treat. My son's Xbox game that usually takes 2-3 mins to load booted up in under 20 seconds!!


All help and advice totally appreciated - thank you!!


Hi All,


Firstly just to say I've read every thread I can find on here and a few on google as well and am now even more confused than when I started. I am pretty useless with tech so please forgive me for asking what is probably obvious to most...


Anyway - last year we got a deal with a BT Smart Hub and it has excellent speeds - up to 70 mb/s - currently running now, on a Friday evening at 50.72 mb/s download and 12.95 mb/s upload as I've just checked. The problem is once it gets into the house. Downstairs is fine but my son's bedroom is in the loft and he has real problems with internet dropping out - not good for a 14yr old doing homework (lol) and playing games/youtube etc...


So here's the question - I've looked at the BT mini hubs and they would do the job (I think) however they are out of our price range at the moment and I think they are no different really to cheaper unbranded versions... is there then anything that will do the job as well or better and cheaper? i.e. plug into the router and the wall socket and then plug into a socket in his bedroom.


Are the Powerline ones any good and will they work, or the TP ones or is there a better option?


Do they work with a BT Smart Hub?


Is there anything I should watch out for?


Will doing this detract from the wifi in the rest of the house i.e. will our other son then need one for his bedroom?


Also - just to say there is no way we can move the router from it's current position.


Many thanks for any help or advice.


Gordon. :-)

Strider590

For that sort of use I would go with powerline adaptors and a cat5/6 wired connection, they have downsides, but speed wise they blow WiFi out of the water.

I use the TP-link AV600 set for my workshop/garage and CCTV, about £40.

gojoroan2007

Got it - that's great - thank you!!


:-)

mgfvvc

A local Sainsburys had some in their special offers earlier this week. I think they might have been down to £25 for a pair.

SouthUKMan

I would go with powerline adapters any day of the week! They are reliable and work.

Wifi extenders on the other hand can work well. However then can also be a complete nightmare. Firstly you need a decent signal to piggyback off - in very large properties this isn't always possible - and in the event of problems it is more tricky to pinpoint a fault in the daisy chain with extenders.

Just my opinion, but I've had experience of both.

flashg67

This looks a good price and I've used the company many times with no problems

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/bt-powerline-500-kit-with-wifi-extender.html

Le_Kirk

Just need to make sure the loft/bedroom is on the same circuit as the rest of the house, i.e. when it was converted did the electrician/builder connect it to the original domestic consumer unit or install a separate one?

PiratePete

Don't worry too much about being on the same cct. I have my extenders on a different cct that goes all the way through the house to my garage that is separate to my house, then onwards to a garden hut 30 metres on with armered cable and still get 15 Mbits on wifi on a 52 Mbit plusnet router !
OK wait for the bandwidth police :rotfl:

Chrishazle

As long as the sockets you want to connect to are on the same phase - and most houses are single phase - powerline adapters work. It's only when you have 3 phase it can get interesting - as I found out, as for some reason this house has 3 phase power!

Powerline adapters from BT are expensive unless you get them on a deal, for instance when taking out BTTV. However, I bought 2 brand new ones (1Gb variety too!) on Ebay for £20, there are quite a few for sale ATM. Be aware there are different capacity ones (500Mb and 1 Gb, maybe others), some are pass through (so you don't loose a power point), some have 1 ethernet socket, others have 2 (which is useful, I have both our PC's on the 1 adapter). Ebuyer can also be a good source.

IMHO once you have tried powerline you'll forget wireless!

System

In addition to Chrishazles post, DO NOT PLUG THEM INTO AN EXTENSION CHORD. I tried it just out of interest to see what would happen and speeds dropped by more than two thirds. If plug sockets are an issue then use a pass through one as suggested.

gt568

Am I correct in thinking that powerline extenders have to be plugged into the device? Like an ethernet cable plugged into a laptop?